Homecoming (A War of the Worlds Story)
by stormy.grace
Summary: After an impromptu vacation to let the dust settle after their witch hunt Hayley and Elena return to the compound, ready to think before acting from now on.


It was the middle of the day when Hayley and Elena finally made their way back into the building that served as their home and sheltered almost everyone they loved.

"Welcome back, loves." Klaus greeted them, looking and sounding very much like the dangerous hybrid everyone feared. "How wonderful that you've finally decided to grace us with your return."

Both young women ignored him. Neither of them was in the mood to deal with his theatrics and mood swings right now.

"Elena!"

"Damon!"

Hayley smiled as they ran to each other and automatically greeted each other with a kiss as if they hadn't seen each other in years instead of a few days. She was slightly jealous that Elena got to have a love like that and she had to ignore what she felt for Elijah because he was too afraid of getting her hurt; when in reality it was him that had been hurt.

She turned to Klaus. "How's Elijah?"

"He's perfectly fine." Klaus said as if it didn't matter.

His tone and attitude hurt Hayley because it mattered a great deal to her whether Elijah was alright or not. She didn't want it to, but it did. The fact that Klaus didn't seem to care was enough to trigger her temper and she glared at him.

"You could at least pretend to care about your brother." She almost growled the words. "Elijah's given up his entire life to save _you_ because he loves you for some reason, and you don't even care!"

Klaus glared right back at her. "I assure you, love, I care a great deal about all of my siblings, and I truly appreciate all they've done for me even though I may not show it very often. What I don't care for is when they act without thinking and further anger a deadly bunch of witches that already hate me and want my child dead. The little killing spree you and Elena decided so stupidly to go on has done just that, and your disappearing act has only given me more time to decide how I want to handle the situation."

Everyone expected him to take his anger out on Hayley and she was prepared to fight back, but they were all thrown off when he turned around and went after Elena instead.

"Klaus, no!" Hayley screamed at him.

Elena, having been completely surprised by his choice to attack her over Hayley, was frozen in place even though she was perfectly aware that even the tiniest nip would kill her. But for some reason she was too shocked and afraid to move, and was grateful when Damon acted quickly and jumped in front of her.

"I don't think so, pal." Damon said as her threw his weight against Klaus and had him pinned against the wall across the courtyard in a second. "I know you're angry, but I just can't let you kill my wife."

Klaus, being much stronger, had no trouble flipping the situation and flashed a smile practically dripping with acid as he pressed his forearm hard against Damon's throat and plunged his hand into the younger vampire's chest, his fingers easily wrapping around his heart. "Fine. I'm flexible." He said as Damon screamed in pain.

"Damon!" Elena screamed, afraid she was about to loose him again because of her own stupid actions.

"Elena, no!" Hayley grabbed Elena as she lunged toward Klaus in an attempt to save her husband.

"Let go of me!" Elena argued, struggling against the stronger woman. "Don't you hurt him, Klaus!"

"What are you going to do about it, love?" Klaus asked, a hint of humor and irony in his voice. "Kill me? Go ahead, but remember if you kill me you all die and you still loose Damon."

"_Enough_, brother!" Elijah commanded, coming out of nowhere and wrapping his hand tightly around Klaus's throat. His other hand gripped Klaus' wrist firmly, forcing him to let go of Damon's heart. "Please remove your hand from Damon's chest cavity, Niklaus. And leave his heart where it is."

Because he couldn't breathe he did as he was told. Elijah surprised them all by quickly snapping Klaus' neck as soon as his hand was free of Damon's chest. Before Klaus even hit the ground Elijah whisked Hayley away and Elena did the same with Damon, hugging him tightly once they were back in their room, safe for the time being.

%%%

"I'm _fine_, Elijah!" Hayley practically shouted as she stormed into her bedroom.

Elijah grabbed her arm and pulled her back, forcing her to face him. His face showed no signs of worry as he gazed into her eyes. Only relief. "Hayley, I know you're fine." There was that perpetual faint smile on his face as he continued. "I only wanted to tell you that I'm glad you made it home safely."

"Well, you've told me." She replied, somewhat haughtily. "Now you can go tell Elena."

"I won't deny that it's a relief to me that the both of you have returned in one piece, seemingly unharmed and of sound mind." Elijah said. "But Damon is perfectly capable of seeing to his wife. _You_ are the only one I care about right now, Hayley."

She stared at him for a while as the silence stretched between them. Physically, they weren't that far apart, and his hand was still holding her wrist, but she wasn't quite certain how to handle the fact that she had bitten him only a week ago. He was fine now, and didn't seem to care, but it was tearing her up inside.

_I bit you_, she started to say, _how can you be so forgiving?_ But she didn't have a chance to say what she was thinking because as soon as she opened her mouth to speak so did he, and what he said changed the entire conversation. It changed everything.

"Hayley, _you_ are the one I love."

For a spilt second she was stunned and speechless, but she quickly shifted into defense mode, not wanting to be lead on or hurt.

"You _love_ me?" she shot back, wrenching her arm free from his grasp and taking a step back.

The look of disbelief and near outrage on her face was not the reaction he had expected. He blinked and actually fumbled for words for a brief moment before simply saying. "Yes."

She looked angry as she spoke. "Oh. Okay. You could've fooled me!"

"Hayley, I—"

"No!" she shouted, perfectly aware that at least half of the people in the compound could hear the argument with their vampire ears, and the other half could probably hear simply because she was yelling. But she didn't care. She was fed up. "I don't want excuses. If you love me, Elijah, then love me! The only thing holding you back is your devotion to your brother. Stop being so damn honorable and considerate and own up to what _you_ want for a change!"

"What _I_ want?" he repeated, his voice almost dangerously low as he took a measured and restrained step toward her. He was inside the room now and easily reached behind him to slam the door shut without any concern for anyone else on the premises. "What _I_ want, Hayley, is _you_."

Her eyes flashed as she stood up straighter and stared him down with a challenge clearly written on her face. The very same challenge filled her voice as she held out her arms, turning herself into something akin to an offering, and said, "Then take me."

%%%

"Well, it sounds like _they're_ making up nicely." Damon said as the sounds of Elijah rushing across the room to passionately kiss Hayley carried to his supernatural ears.

"Damon!" Elena exclaimed, scolding him as she closed their bedroom door. "Don't eavesdrop. That's rude."

"Don't have sex in a house full of vampires if you don't want anyone to hear you." Damon retorted and shrugged, flashing that devilish grin of his. He moved closer before she could escape and wrapped his arms around her. "Of course, if you want, we could follow their lead and celebrate your homecoming in a similar fashion. I seem to recall that we're pretty good at dramatic love-making."

"Damon!" Elena squealed as he dipped his head and nibbled on her neck, tickling her and making her want more. She pushed him back, but not very far because he wouldn't let go. There was a happy sparkle in her eyes as she placed her hands on either side of his face, smiled, and kissed him. "I love you, and I know exactly what you want, but you're going to have to wait."

Damon's mischievously playful expression quickly shifted to a dejectedly sad one, and he feigned a pout. "But Hayley and Elijah–"

"Don't have a baby in the room that hasn't seen her mother in a week." Elena said, cutting him off.

As soon as the words were out of her mouth, her eyes went wide in disbelief. Her hands flew up to cover her face and she shook her head. "Oh my god! I can't believe I just said that!"

Her words were muffled because of her hands, but Damon knew her better than anybody. He knew she was kicking herself for her own thoughtlessness, and he was probably about to cry over Hayley's plight so he pulled her close, kissed the top of her head, and rubbed her back gently. "Don't worry, Elena. We'll find Hope."

She took a deep breath and looked up, rubbing her hands over her face. She was proud of herself for not crying, but she sniffed anyway. "Damon, can you give me some time alone with Talia?"

He nodded and kissed her forehead. He was still bloody and had a hole in his shirt where Klaus had tried to rip his heart out just a little while ago, but he left the room and quietly closed the door to give her some privacy.

Elena took another deep breath and walked over to the crib. Talia was asleep inside, looking like the most precious little angel ever created, and Elena hated to wake her up. But she needed to cuddle her for a little while and tell her some things, so she leaned down and gently scooped the little girl into her arms. Talia started to cry out at having her nap disturbed, but calmed instantly when her big dark eyes landed on the face of the woman she was already coming to know meant safety and love despite her sudden disappearance.

Elena sat down in the rocker and smiled at her baby. "Hey there, my little merbaby." She pressed a gentle kiss to Talia's forehead and happily allowed her finger to be taken captive by her daughter's tiny fist. "You've got a good grip, baby girl. Well, guess what? I'm pretty good at holding on to things too. Especially the people I love, and I promise you I will never _ever_ let anyone hurt you. Your daddy and I, and everyone else in this house are going to protect you and keep you safe no matter what. Even Klaus."

Talia seemed to be listening with such intensity that Elena was almost certain she actually understood. "He wants everyone to think he's some big, scary hybrid. He is, but you know what? Even though he just tried to kill Damon, he's got a soft spot way deep down inside, and he's on our side now."

She paused for a while and simply gazed lovingly at the child in her arms. It had only been a few weeks and they weren't related by blood, but no one could tell Elena that this wasn't her daughter. From the moment she had laid eyes on her she had loved her more than she had ever imagined she could love anyone. She couldn't be completely certain, but it was entirely possible that the love she felt for this tiny little person, whom she had only known for such a short amount of time, surpassed the love she felt for Damon, and that simply amazed her.

"I'm so sorry I left you." She said. "I'll never be gone that long again."

The look on Talia's sweet face seemed to say that she accepted the apology, but was curious as to why it was necessary. So Elena explained. She got up and walked to the window, shifting Talia so that she could see the city beyond the walls of this place that had somehow become home.

"Do you see all those buildings out there?" she asked. "That's New Orleans. It's a great place, but there are some really bad people out there that want to hurt us. There's another place called Mystic Falls that has the same problem. Your mommy and Aunt Hayley had a little psychotic break and did some things we shouldn't have in order to make the world safe for you and Hope. We went away for a little while so that we could think and get our heads on straight so we can all work together as a team to take down the bad guys."

She moved to sit back down, and smiled at her little girl. "But don't worry. We're done being crazy and everything's going to be okay. And sooner than I'd like you're going to get your chance to take on the world."


End file.
